THIS is How GTA 3 Originally Looked in ALPHA

Today we look at the GTA 3 alpha mod, this is what Grand Theft Auto 3 originally looked like in its beta / alpha evolution build, Rockstar Games definitely made the right decision altering the games graphics. #gta #evolution

[@paulgambro4264]

This is a modded reconstruction based on early screenshots, it is mostly built upon speculation

[@JAMESYQ24]

I’m glad someone mentioned it. I’ve been looking for a real Beta/Alpha release for 15 years. The most likely thing is all builds are long gone and weren’t kept.

[@OfficialSnyd]

​@JAMESYQ24 the alpha 1997 version of pokemon gold and silver leaked 20 years after it was shown at the spaceworld convention, never say never

[@Silva_GP]

​@@OfficialSnydDifferents situations, Rockstar never showed a old beta version of GTA 3 with cartoonish graphics for the public, only the E3 beta versions showed months before the oficial released was avaliable.

[@OfficialSnyd]

@@Silva_GP This is a good point actually, I believe those betas of Pokemon were from archives and only existed because of said convention

[@lilwoodiewood3457]

​@@OfficialSnydthey also weren't really any different from the first Gen games

[@THRACIA776ISTHEGREATEST]

This is gta 3 for the dreamcast

[@DrModGTA]

Pretty much yeah. It has the dreamcast intro

[@RacerCat97]

More like the Nintendo 64 and game cube

[@Maximus20778]

​@@RacerCat97the GameCube would never look like this 😂

[@johnstamos5948]

honestly a not the best description, the dreamcast looked better than everything at the time

[@Loader2K1]

@@johnstamos5948: Actually, there was an Internet article from a few weeks ago that basically said that the project that would evolve into _Grand Theft Auto 3_ originally began as a pitch for an open-world game on the Dreamcast.

[@the_troll309]

GTA if was released on n64

[@malinalungu407]

Funny to think that Rockstar actually planned to make an N64 version of the original GTA called GTA 64, which it was later canned.

[@the_troll309]

@@malinalungu407 "canned" 💀

[@the_troll309]

@@malinalungu407 yeah , there's n64 cartridge pictures of it with Spanish obviously, i wish they done it

[@BenHughes81]

We sort of had that as Body Harvest. It was made by DMA Design, which became Rockstar.

[@applesandgrapesfordinner4626]

Needs more framerate issues

[@Tholi]

Please don’t call this an Alpha build, it’s misleading.

[@Eazy-V]

Clickbaited :(

[@anaalkuusk949]

Not to mention. Even if it was alpha build, an alpha build isnt a "what couldve been". Shit video

[@DoomKid]

Yeah, the starting lines and whole premise to your video being wrong is.. well, it's something

[@cybergothika6906]

I guess every GTA youtuber is a scammer.

[@marclurr]

Art style aside, the title "alpha" is given to software that is nowhere near finished. Things like low draw distance and missing mini map are really because this is no more than a debug build.

[@channe3049]

It's a Dreamcast version of GTA3.

[@marclurr]

@@channe3049 which was scrapped after only a few months of work, so what I said is valid.

[@Jolyne19]

Thank you! It was bothering me that the original uploader was complaining about certain details of the alpha without recognizing the fact that we ate looking at an unfinished game. It's misleading to frame such details as "what the game would have been".

[@jekw23]

@@Jolyne19same, you’re never meant to see alpha builds anyway (feel free to correct me) so judging it seems pointless. It’s more out of interest to see stages of game development.

[@Silva_GP]

​@@channe3049This video showed a mod made by fans, not the original beta build from Rockstar.

[@nikobelic25000]

The art style feels like a blend of GTA 1, 2, and Advance, it's interesting it transformed from a comic book-inspired look to a more realistic urban environment. This retro aesthetic raises intriguing questions about how the game would have been received by the media if it had retained this style, especially given the intense scrutiny Rockstar faced over the game's controversial content. Also the 'Darko' mission, which involved blowing up an ice cream truck, was in fact reworked and incorporated into the final as a side mission for 'El Burro, I Scream, You Scream'. However, instead of targeting innocent pedestrians, the revised mission involves taking out mobsters.

[@Defy248]

Would of been weird to see healthbar at the bottom left and ammo at top right? *Laughs in GTA V HUD*

[@TheDalisama]

And GTA IV. Most-likely the same in GTA VI.

[@CARLJOHNSON-ny8sn]

Claude looks like a teenage football player 😂😂😂 but the infernis car sound 😮

[@MIDNIGHT_W0LF125]

if im not mistaken the ice cream truck mission was the only one of darkels missions that made it into the final game

[@kingvector1198]

The only major difference being you took the ice cream van and parked it near a warehouse of 4 Leones in Atlantic Quays, the mission from El Burro "I Scream, You Scream". Kinda makes the mission less hostile towards terrorism-based actions to be honest.

[@dcarbs2979]

I felt sure it was a GTA2 mission and not by a character called Darkel.

[@VoVilliaCorp]

@@dcarbs2979 It's been a while since I played gta2, but I think there was a russian mafia mission where you had to arm a hare krishna bus

[@F1RST_BLUD1]

It was almost planned to be released in ps1 dreamcast at that time

[@DrModGTA]

Yes and fun fact the intro to the mod features a dreamcast intro

[@cool3865]

it was never planned to be released for the PS1 just the Dreamcast

[@zombiewarrior225]

I am really glad that they made all the changes they did. But the brighter colors did look pretty nice

[@DrModGTA]

Definitely interesting

[@MrLyosea]

Early 1960s looking Liberty City!

[@WllKiedSnake]

Kinda has that Body Harvest look.

[@vieri031]

It looks like Vice City. Thanks god GTAIII have this dark ambient, less colours and also fog which it makes this game much more realistic and gloomy.

[@malinalungu407]

It's funny because Vice City would enter development at the time GTA 3 was released

[@dudemp4]

​@@malinalungu407 and was planned to be an expansion

[@Silva_GP]

No, Vice City are far from this.

[@RetroGmx]

Либерти сити на много разнообразнее, метро, пешеходы слушающие музыку в наушниках, город словно ощущается живым, в Вайс сити этого нет

[@neilpatrickhairless]

I always hated GTA3 because of how ugly and dark and hard to see anything on a CRT it was

[@CARLJOHNSON-ny8sn]

I love this color palette reminds me of gta London 1960s anyone but I'm glad we got the gritty look in the final release and i love bright colors

[@geroldgrimel4811]

5:52 I recognize that ice cream truck tune from Body Harvest (N64 - 1998). That was a title released by the same company, when they were called DMA Design Limited.

[@Errand_chip]

this is why its called alpha. it was never meant to look that bad

[@1rz2rz3rz]

Still better than Defective - I mean Definitive edition.

[@lilskrrby]

on god

[@lilskrrby]

@DPJDW2024 why you trippin yu fool? which generatin you talking about. you dont kno shit about anything in life. xD

[@noel_996]

GTA: hit and run!

[@anaalkuusk949]

An alpha isnt a "what could've been"... Thats the whole point of calling something an "alpha" instead of "final".

[@xlovingstonx]

Ah yes, waits 7 minutes into an 8 minute video to finally announce that it’s just a recreation of the alpha and not the real thing. Cool!

[@jekw23]

This is what the alpha build might have looked like? Seems a strange thing to critique as it’s an interpretation of what an early build may have been. Looks good for alpha imo.

[@djuberfog6344]

I shit it's a mod

[@sanderhackerhd8369]

I think this mod made it look too cartoonish, the actual sceenshots were a little bit less cartoonish

[@ShaolinDave]

It’s weird to criticize an alpha build’s graphics. _No_ game in its alpha stage looks like the final game. Hell, I’ve never seen an alpha look _closer_ to its final game than this. Generally, alphas are made with stand-in graphics. Several alphas I’ve seen had boxes of stick figures in place of actual characters.

[@CrackerBoy13]

I mean honestly, the concept of GTA III starting off as a modded version of the prior 2D games really makes sense. In the OG versions they even had a top-down camera angle for both controlling Claude and driving cars. I think it’s safe to assume GTA III was originally going to be played top-down and continue the story of 2 with Claude Speed as protagonist, but the premise of an all-new 3D game (and the events of 9/11 happening during then-late development) ultimately took it in an entirely new direction.

[@varvarvarvarvarvar]

Except there was no story to continue. In GTA2 they were so dismissive of the story stuff, they called the city "Anywhere, USA". The whole atmosphere was much more of a "cops and robbers" pretend play, the writing was mostly jokes and references to support all the odd missions that made use of cars and guns. There was no protagonist, just a mute player that doesn't even have body language in cutscenes because there was no cutscenes.

[@TheDalisama]

@@varvarvarvarvarvar Well, the only exception to that was the intro where you could actually see some of Claude's personality. That being said, the "story" of GTA 2 was pretty much optional. The only requirements for beating the game was to make a certain amount of money.

[@youngemu3949]

“This would have sucked!” What?!? 🤯🤯🤯 the “Alpha” version would have sucked‼️‼️

[@DrModGTA]

Just the overall tone

[@Fatih_M177]

Looks a bit cheap for 2001 standards, the art style ia charming but the lighting is a bit uneasy on the eyes. Which is why I'm thankful we got the more dark and gritty GTA 3

[@MSX98FMDnB]

crazy how inaccurate this mod is compared to the gta3d mod by 13ag, the_hero, fire_head,, and some other big name gta modders but at the time this one was made not as much info was uncovered so a lot of content in this mod is just speculation and myths like darkel's missions and the vehicle sound design change based on canned sound effects added into trailers to make them more cinematic

[@cybergothika6906]

Some new school gamers asks me how is possible Rockstar became so obsessed with attention to details. I always tell them this very story; it all began with them converting a top-down action game straight to third person full 3D game. Tweaking and switching to adjust details probably was an eye opener to the science of making games.

[@imaginox9]

I can recognise the police siren and "job complete" sounds from GTA 2 ! Speaking of the police siren, the one in the final game is actually very close to the sirens used by the NYPD in the 80's and 90's

[@Cnodax1]

This also recognizes these sounds from GTA 2. It seems that they used these sounds as a placeholder.

[@RedPolarBearRanger]

Not to mention the police cars and taxi cabs look more like 4th generation Chevrolet Caprices the 93-96 models.

[@DrModGTA]

Very true

[@austinl4915]

Looks very similar to body harvest on the n64, which was also made by Rockstar before they changed their name to Rockstar

[@AndHeScores]

This is GTA 2.999999999999999999999969….

[@MentalParadox]

"This was almost how it looked" No it wasn't, it was an alpha NEVER meant to see the light of day. Your choice of words makes it seem as if they were on the verge of releasing it in this state, and changed their minds at the last minute or something

[@DanteDevilTrigger653]

Can't quite explain it but this gives me the Megaman Legends vibe lol

[@adamderosa9142]

I think it's the streets! Thought the same thing haha

[@kingvector1198]

One thing I found incredibly painful about this version.. the Cartel carry around M16's :/ (Which would change to AK's as of completing The Exchange)

[@DrModGTA]

So true they are super OP

[@kingvector1198]

@@DrModGTA Yep hehe until you get Ray's hum vee or drive a bullet proof Barracks that always spawns in the Arms Shortage mission :3

[@platinumpagoda3079]

Damn I thought you were playing the definitive edition based on the graphics.😂

[@r3zmodz]

I think it's better than the definitive edition

[@JesseVenturaHat]

​@@r3zmodz yep definitely better

[@KamikazeKid]

Wow I never seen the alpha lol. Thanks for showing us mate! GTA 3 was so ahead of its time. Rockstar truly made a beautiful masterpiece with the actual release.

[@DoomKid]

This is a fan made mod, no such alpha exists

[@mariocesarbaldessarmoro5418]

Crazy how even with this bad graphics, it would still be mindblowing compared to the Ps1 and previous GTAs.

[@AAKalam]

7:19 poor NPC

[@AyyBet]

it was revolutionary in a time like 2001

[@Chicken_Wing91]

I think the ice cream truck was used for one of the El Burro mission in the final release because you have to rig one to explode to kill the target.

[@BoredToDeath182]

First of all an Alpha Version was never meant to be released, so that is not what it was supposed to look like. Second even if it came out like this this would still have been an absolute game changer compared to the 2D Birds view from GTA 2...

[@Rodrickheffley0011]

Man thats gta on nintendo 64

[@bizarroeddie1]

There were games like this at the time or very similar, like Midtown Madness. What brought GTA3 for a whole new level was the realism of the weather. Without that, it definitely would be surpassed by other games and not be as remembered as it is today.

[@Claydood]

I kind of like the Alpha graphic style more. Looks more like the first two games and doesn't have that annoying motion blur. I'm sure it would look better in the correct aspect ratio instead of stretched to fill 16:9

[@Rxyimm]

Where is that gta 3 theme backround music from it sounds so chill and calming! Also great showcase of the alpha footage :)

[@TCHUBOY]

Thats called pre alpha, all games even today starts Whit very simple graphic, Mechanic's are the priority first.

[@johnnypimpinz5202]

How video games would've been if soulless corporations like Take-Two were in charge

[@0ttoRex]

If gta 3 and specifically vice city was released in top down format, i likely would never have played any gta game ever

[@weclock]

I love the vibrant colors. I'd have spent another 1000 hours in it if it launched that way. Vice City 4 life.

[@UltimatelyEverything]

I like how much more clear the game looked in it's ALPHA version and the fact that it was more vibrant and had more colour.

[@HaakonAnderson]

Its the alpha version. That means it was nowhere near done. It's not how it almost looked, they hadn't applied the finished textures or lighting.

[@Kotbaum]

Honestly, I like the alpha Rhino better than that horrible looking thing in the finished game.

[@malinalungu407]

Just one question, was the Furore GT an actual GTA III car that got cut or is it just an unofficial vehicle they just added

[@anunnacy]

2:28 Tbh, I think for me it would've been cool enough as top-down one. It's still a graphic upgrade from GTA2, looks nice. THe only downside maybe would've been if it wouldn't have been successful enough and the series would've never gotten as big as it is today.. but who knows. :D

[@thebasketballhistorian3291]

Spoiler alert: the is not the alpha version. I watched this whole video thinking this was a leaked alpha version of the game. Ending reveals it's just a mod someone made based on screenshots of the alpha version.

[@VE-gw2sq]

Greetings to you from Central Africa🤜🏾

[@DrModGTA]

Hello there!

[@EvilDoer839]

it wouldn't have sucked at the time its still an improvement compared to the previous gta games and some flash games that came much later than that looked very similar

[@Super-my9ob]

2:06 that explains whyin the Alpha Version the Draw Distance was Dogwater

[@Aeduo]

Aside from maybe some lack of polish, I kinda like the cartoon graphics, and the PS2 games that followed kinda returned a bit to that. Eventually going entirely away from it though.

[@nikto7297]

It properly made like this becomes gta 3 was originally planned to be released on old consoles at that time like ps1.

[@cool3865]

it was never made for the PS1, it was going to be released for the Dreamcast until the announcement of the PS2

[@nikto7297]

@@cool3865 Dreamcast ? Sorry My bad.

[@melodicsatisfactionproductions]

4:20 Claude’s last name isn’t Speed. Claude Speed is the protagonist of GTA 2, GTA 3’s Claude isn’t the same guy.

[@cool3865]

yep because the GTA2 Claude Speed is set in 2015 and not 2000 like GTA3

[@isrv]

This version looks so depressing!! 😭 gta 3 as basic as it is in its final form from over 21 years ago it has life!! 😭

[@movinmetal2596]

Looks like GTA2 with a player-based camera instead of top-down 😂

[@gavcom4060]

lol the infernus sound is straight up ripped from an actual Lamborghini V12 engine, so technically you’re saying that lambo’s sound horrible

[@Wasper216]

They do.

[@jeffsan4996]

You can definitely see the influence from body harvest

[@DevinRyanVitek]

No wonder Manhunt 0.69 looked like this too. Very cartoony and lacking the grit we know in both GTA 3 and Manhunt 1

[@ZgermanGuy.]

It looks like they were trying to do vice city but did not have the technology yet

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

I love how it looks, it just lacks lighting from first glance.

[@bobsnow6242]

Just as an aside, there was NO mini map in the actual final release of GTA III. You had to navigate using a physical map that came with the box until you familiarized yourself with the city.

[@corporalshepardlol2930]

back then, the beta was supposed to be cartoonish but rockstar changed his mind after all.

[@ChrisGuzmanS]

It would have looked cartoonish, reminds me to N64 body harvest

[@NewOrderOfAlexandria]

Love the arcade look of this version, especially at night. Looks like a racer game I'd play for $1 each go at the cinema arcades

[@atenschun6254]

7:32 A detriment is something of negative influence. From the Latin _deterere:_ "wear away."

[@Darkest_matter]

9/11 is NOT that shocking... in china, buildings fall down easily from wind due to made in china quality, but with 9/11 it was US govt themselves.

[@JaysasterGaming]

Agencies just want more and more control of the people.

[@ItDaBiz]

Something about GTA3 using GTA2 textures as placeholders is fascinating

[@spencermorningstarphotos]

for the time? that still would have been a really fun game with a lot of action! reminds me of virtuacop 2

[@aneekes.]

Guess textures from gta1-2 were used as a blueprint for making the map. Even here you can see some photo textures on the buildings and showcases they focused on realism.

[@Larry]

The art style ki da reminds me of another Rockstar Games PS2 title, State of Emergency.

[@mgiebus1869]

Man thank God they went 3D. I remember playing GTA London and using your imagination to compensate for those awful graphics

[@86sVideoDump]

honestly I kinda love the style of this, obviously it's not realistic like the series would end up but it's super unique

[@Thesmoothestoperator]

Kinda looks like they were gonna make it like the first 2 and thankfully changed their minds

[@DrModGTA]

Exactly! I think firstly they wanted to make a top down game again but in a rendware engine so It would be more 3d but still the same gameplay. Good thing they decided to change that

[@FlightRelief]

Watching this after completing gta 3 netflix defentive edition 100% 😂❤

[@Zoldszakall]

And apparently it was normal to see Borgnine taxis everywhere :D

[@agropolygon1853]

Literally what the game would've released like if Early Access was the same then as it is today. Only for it to look good in 5 years

[@draculastraphouse7863]

I love that GTA has a really dark feeling to it but honestly i wouldn't mind if it would have looked like the alpha version, it still looks good in my opinion

[@worawatli8952]

The game is in 4:3 aspect ratio, if your screen has 4:3 option, try it, it make this looks a bit better, but it's still pretty bad compared to what was released.

[@s3dms_pepsi]

cartoony adult ahh game💀 (still remember that game that was released by nintendo?)

[@feloniousbutterfly]

"Wow this unfinished version of the game looks really bad! This would have sucked!" No shit. It's an alpha for a reason. Do you tell an artist 1/3 the way through a piece that it sucks? Do you tell a writer that is 1/3 the way through their novel that the book sucks? No! It's incomplete! It's not finished! Of course it looks like shit!!!!

[@RolandoF-cm7cc]

If this had come out on dreamcast i would have owned it for sure. All my friends had ps1 and GameCubes

[@mateoortiz361]

Damn Sega Dreamcast had some wild graphics 😢😢😢

[@Outside998]

Darkel's missions were not cut because of 9/11. The time window for that is way too short to not risk breaking anything. They were removed way before, as Rockstar themselves stated in that AMA you mentioned, for just not being that good.

[@xDivorex]

1:53, GTA’s IV, and V both had their health indicated in the similar style. Never heard of anyone having a problem

[@BobbyCarillo]

I like this beta Infurnus more than the one we ended up with, it looks alot like the Infurnus classic in gta online.

[@Funnyredhouse3453]

7:23 look what happens if u closely lmao

[@BigShittin]

I remember reading about this game in Game Informer magazine before it was released and the hype was so crazy.

[@khaiphamba5991]

This makes a lot of sense. So I could say that GTA 3 was actually in the crossroad between becoming the best topdown, open-world game, or something entirely different. It seems like the devs had made a historical decision. So, if they sticked to topdown, thanks to the upgraded 3d graphics, it would actually look amazing compared to the previous. But it would STILL be topdown. On the other hand, they changed it to a 3d 3rd person game, but due to tech limitation at that time, it looked rather ugly. HOWEVER, it opened an entire new chapter, a new territory, a possibility that would change the series and the entire genre forever. Just look at San Andrea. Then IV, V, and now VI. Without that fateful decision, we may be 1 GTA generation behind. This is so amazing!

[@LaurenceReeves]

It’s amazing what a colour palette can do!

[@bullet5977]

Seeing this game on birds eye makes sense - the graphics was most likely designed for the birds eye view and was changed because of the 3rd view point. Good choice to make it 3rd point view :D

[@chrls5559]

my guy thinks an alpha build is the final version of the game T_T

[@Crockett1986]

What shoreside vale, looks like in the beta version of GTA 3?

[@presidentkiller]

The only change was the airport I think. It was originally planned for Staunton Island and then it was moved to Shoreside Vale.